Tennessee people?

[ginger]

I'm in Chattanooga!

[ginger]

Sorry, I got excited.

The kids will love the Aquarium here and in Gatlinburg.

[kristie]

Yes, it will be a billion degrees and the humidity is brutal right now. It is hard to remember a time when outside didn't feel like a sauna.

[kristie]

I can't quite figure out where you are going to be because iam an hour from Knoxville and 30 minutes from chatt. The distances aren't making sense to me, so I don't know what to recommend. There is tons for kids to do in downtown chatt. Kids museum and aquarium.

[ginger]

Jul 10, 2014 11:00:28 GMT -5 @evelynrichards said:

Jul 10, 2014 10:57:00 GMT -5 ginger said:

Sorry, I got excited.

The kids will love the Aquarium here and in Gatlinburg.

LOL, thanks! So there are two aquariums?

one in Gatlinburg, TN and one in Chattanooga.

Kristie also suggested a great place, Creative Discovery Museum (inside) in Chattanooga.

We also love the Zoo here, but Knoxville has a bigger one.

[kristie]

Ok, so pretty close to me. I am a bigger city just south of Athens. The zoo in Knoxville is awesome if the weather is decent, Chattanooga zoo is not good. We always just drive up the ocoee river, there is lots of outdoors stuff to explore and enjoy.

[kristie]

Like this.... Waterfalls and swimming holes

swimmingholes.org/tn.html#BLUE%20HOLE%20-%20OCOEE

Scroll down to the Chattanooga, cleveland, duck town one

[kristie]

Oh, and Chattanooga lookouts games (local baseball, tickets are cheap) are fun on fireworks night and in August they have riverfront nights in Chattanooga. Free outdoor concerts and family friendly. I love the Chattanooga riverfront.

Sorry I keep remembering things instead of putting this all in one post. Lol

[eclaires]

The Knoxville Zoo also has a splash park that my kids enjoy. Several of the Knoxville area parks have splash parks too, depending on where you are and what is closest.

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge has Dollywood and the water park (Splash Country), plus lots of other kid friendly tourist-y type things. I haven't done many of them, but I've heard good things about places like Wonderworks.

There's also the national park in the Smoky Mountains. Depending on when you are here, they sometimes have free (or inexpensive) kids' programs.

Oh and this facebook page tends to list various events and other family friendly things going on around Knoxville.

www.facebook.com/knoxvillefamily

ETA: I think Sweetwater has a downtown area, as well as some farms that give tours and stuff.  I went on one for a field trip - it was a dairy farm and there was good cheese.  

ETA2: I also forgot that there are some things to do in Oak Ridge.  Oak Ridge has the American Museum of Science and Energy and they have kid friendly stuff.  I think they also do tours of the national lab (manhattan project/secret city type stuff), but I think there is a minimum age (maybe 18?).  amse.org/  There are also lots of lakes and areas nearby - I think some of them have public access beaches - Melton Hill is the one I am most familiar with.  www.knoxville-tn.com/melton_hill.html

[pegasuskat]

My kids always liked the Aquarium in Chattanooga. If you go to Gatlinburg there is tons to do, we like to spend a long weekend there every year. Dollywood, the mountains, lots of stuff, I like the Aquarium in Chattagnooga better though!

[eclaires]

Jul 10, 2014 13:00:20 GMT -5 @evelynrichards said:

Jul 10, 2014 12:08:22 GMT -5 eclaires said:

The Knoxville Zoo also has a splash park that my kids enjoy. Several of the Knoxville area parks have splash parks too, depending on where you are and what is closest.

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge has Dollywood and the water park (Splash Country), plus lots of other kid friendly tourist-y type things. I haven't done many of them, but I've heard good things about places like Wonderworks.

There's also the national park in the Smoky Mountains. Depending on when you are here, they sometimes have free (or inexpensive) kids' programs.

Oh and this facebook page tends to list various events and other family friendly things going on around Knoxville.

www.facebook.com/knoxvillefamily

ETA: I think Sweetwater has a downtown area, as well as some farms that give tours and stuff.  I went on one for a field trip - it was a dairy farm and there was good cheese.  

ETA2: I also forgot that there are some things to do in Oak Ridge.  Oak Ridge has the American Museum of Science and Energy and they have kid friendly stuff.  I think they also do tours of the national lab (manhattan project/secret city type stuff), but I think there is a minimum age (maybe 18?).  amse.org/  There are also lots of lakes and areas nearby - I think some of them have public access beaches - Melton Hill is the one I am most familiar with.  www.knoxville-tn.com/melton_hill.html

Thank you! Splash park sounds like a great idea.

This is the one I am most familiar with:  www.townoffarragut.org/facilities.aspx?search=1&CID=2&RID=4&Page=detail
It's on the west end of Knoxville nearish the 75/40 split, so it's probably fairly close to where you'll be compared to most of the rest of Knoxville.  There might be some in Lenoir City/Loudon County that might be more convenient but I'm not as familiar with that area.

[eav2c]

Lake Winnie in Chattanooga. I have never been myself but it has been recommended to me time and time again. Apparently it is a fun amusement park.